World of Katekyo Hitman Reborn!: The Hyperides Famiglia
by starofjustice
Summary: Vongola isn't the only mafia family in the world, and Tsuna Sawada isn't the only teen getting mixed up in their doings. Nikos Hyperides is another one about to be kicked into a chaotic world of super-powered hitmen and twisted plots, but he wields a power as deep as the sea.
1. Chapter 1

**World of Katekyo Hitman Reborn!: The Hyperides Famiglia**

Chapter 01: Scion Nikos

The almost totally smooth side of the mountain stretched to the sky, waiting for them to climb it to the highest point on Pelacidos.

"This should actually be fun," Alesandro said as he dropped the heavy rope and grapnel off his shoulder and onto the rocky ground at his feet, and get a safety harness out of his bag. He looked exactly the type to enjoy something like climbing a mountain: tall, leanly muscled, with thick brown hair and a handsome, rugged face. To most people he looked like he was getting into his twenties even though that wouldn't be for years still, and as he smiled his teeth seemed to catch the light of the sun at just the right angle to make it even more dazzling.

"You know what's waiting for us when we get to the top," his companion grumbled quietly. "What we're going to spend all afternoon doing." Unlike Alesandro, he was shorter, skinnier, his face small and unremarkable except for shining grey eyes. His hair was a dark brown just like Alesandro's, but carefully combed and coiffed like he was on his way to a fancy prep school. As if the island even had one.

The remark only made Alesandro smile even wider and give him a slap between the shoulders, making the smaller boy stumble forward. "So at least this time they're letting us have some fun and cut loose before we get up there. Let's try to enjoy it, Nikos."

The smaller boy nodded, the grimace on his face fading, and got a harness of his own and strapped himself into it. Alesandro took the end of the rope with the grapnel and gave it a few powerful swings. He let it go and the hook arced through the air until it caught on the edge of a crag. He gave it a couple of tugs and then made the "ok" sign with his fingers, smiling again. It seemed like he never stopped, honestly. But then, Nikos couldn't help being glad of that.

Alesandro went first, not exactly scaling the mountain wall like a spider but finding places to grip much more easily than Nikos himself could, and hauling them up the wall with ease thanks to his greater strength.

The smaller boy glanced down at the ring on his finger-a simple gold band with a dark blue stone—and wondered if they were already being tested. If someone from back at the manor was watching them climb the mountain, and if he was expected to use that to get to the top and show them how precise his control was getting.

"Something on your mind, Nick?" Alesandro called down at him, breaking Nikos out of his thoughts.

"What makes you ask something like that out of nowhere?" Nikos coughed.

"I've been waiting for you to start following me for a couple minutes now," his friend replied, smiling sympathetically down at him. He hung on a narrow ledge, waiting patiently for his friend to follow him up.

That's right, Nikos decided. If they were watching him after all, they'd be expecting him to focus on the job at hand. He reached up and grabbed a ledge, starting up after his friend. Alesandro nodded and started scaling the rock up to where they'd sunk the hook.

Neither of them paid any attention to the small white seaplane circling the sky above the island. As they got to the ledge halfway up, neither of them saw it land in the water. Two more hours later as they finally crawled over the edge to the top and went inside a round grey building, they didn't see the two men in scuba gear climb out of the seaplane and jump into the ocean.

* * *

Waiting for the two teens inside was a handsome woman, her curly brown hair done up in a short bob that was enticing despite the yellow worker's coveralls she had on. A few wrinkles were starting to form around her mouth, accentuated as she smiled when she saw them coming in. She walked over and clapped her gloved hands down on Alesandro's shoulders. "Looks like you're breathing hard, boys! Enjoy the climb?" she asked.

He thumped his chest. "It was a great warm-up, Dame Hyperides!"

She flinched then tweaked his ear. "Now Alex… _don't call me that, I've told you better_."

"Heh heh heh!" he chuckled, not showing a sign of pain. After a few seconds she let go and walked over to Nikos.

With him, she gently leaned forward and stroked his hair. "Did you like the climb, Nikos?"

"It was ruined a little knowing we were just coming up here for training."

"Training is important, dear," she said, smiling and stroking his chin trying to coax a smile out of him too.

He stepped back away from her finger. "I know. Can't anything else ever be important?"

" _Some_ day it'll save your life," she replied.

Nikos looked down. "Can we just get started, mom? What exercise is it today?"

She waited a few seconds, maybe hoping he'd relax and say something else. He didn't and she straightened up. "It'll be 'Tsunami' for you today, Nikos. Alesandro, it'll be 'Riot' for you."

"My favorite," Nikos said without looking up again.

His mother's face stiffened a little. "The time requirements are going to be a little tougher today, boys. You'll be having to stay up for ten minutes."

"That's twice as long as before!" Niko exclaimed.

She folded her arms in front of herself, her face hardening slightly and her mouth shifting into a thin line. It was the same look she took on when she'd tried to look authoritative ever since he was little. He looked up again and easily met her at her own level now. "If you're in real danger, whatever's threatening you won't care about you being comfortable," she said.

"Let's just get started," Nikos said and walked past the two of them.

As he disappeared down the hallway, Alesandro looked at Nikos's mother. "He's having a tough time right now."

She shook her head. "Don't cover for him, Alesandro. Not around us. Soon he's going to have to how his abilities to other people. If he lives or dies could depend on it."

"Sorry, ma'am."

"Just go on. You're going to need to show people your abilities too," she said.

"I'll make the famiglia proud!" Alesandro grinned and ran off in the familiar direction of that training room. Nikos's mother watched him go for a few steps, then went down another hall and up a flight of stairs to a room full of control banks and monitors, overlooking a wide room with a rectangular swimming pool taking up nearly all the space. Two technicians wearing headsets were sitting at the controls and looked up as she came in.

"We're ready to begin whenever you are, ma'am," one of them announced.

Through the windows they could see Nikos enter the room with a pool, now wearing nothing but black speedos. "Don't go easy, gentlemen," his mother said to the technicians.

They gave each other uncertain looks, then one turned the big black dial in front of him all the way up.

* * *

In the room below, Nikos stood on the edge and clenched a fist with the hand he wore his ring on. He willed power to _flow_ through his body, and collect there. The gem erupted with a spike of blue light, a disc of rippling silver just big enough to stand on formed above the surface of the pool. Nikos stepped on top of it and huge panels opened in the walls, revealing huge fans that roared to life.

The water in the pool rippled and whitecaps formed everywhere as the fans picked up, pushing Nikos back on his perch. He concentrated on his power and the rippling platform he was standing on grew wider.

He'd done this exercise a million times: he had to focus on his power and stay on the disc he'd created. Sharp Tide, his family called it, the energy formed by his Dying Will Flame of the Sea. It could be formed into any shape he wanted, but making enough to stand on was about the most he could manage yet.

If he let his control slip and the Sharp Tide faded away, he'd fall in the pool. If he couldn't control the Sharp Tide well enough to keep his balance and was blown off, he fell in the pool. Either way, falling in the pool meant he failed, and he had to start over until he could keep it up for a certain amount of time. As he'd gotten more control, the time he was expected to stay up had been getting longer and longer.

The winds seemed to pick up even more and Nikos slid back on the platform he'd made. He clenched his teeth and focused his energy underneath his feet, the Sharp Tide stretching forward and letting him step ahead to lean into the wind.

A wave whipped up and splashed against his knees. Nikos staggered for a second but he squinted and focused harder and shifted the shape of the platform, making it stretch to the left where his momentum took him and his foot came down. He managed to straighten up, and the platform shrank on the other side where he wasn't standing anymore.

Control, Nikos reminded himself as another high wave splashed against his back and the platform wobbled under the surprise and the cold. Then another one rose up in front and slammed into Nikos. Finally he couldn't resist anymore, and Nikos was thrown off his platform. Everything went dark as he fell back and disappeared underneath the water.

Immediately the fans shut down and after a minute the water stopped churning. Nikos swam to the surface and let out a hard breath. He got to the side of the pool and climbed out. The panels covering the fans opened again.

"That wasn't even half your time from before, Nikos," said his mother's voice over the loudspeaker. He even knew to expect the slight buzz at the end of every word.

"You want me to set a new record, I'll give you a new record," Nikos snapped. A new platform appeared over the pool, the spike of light from his ring turning into a crackling blue flame.

* * *

The starting buzz sounded and Alesandro smiled confidently, taking his place in the bright yellow circle in the very center of the room. He felt he was getting very good at this exercise, and was planning on putting on his best performance yet.

Suddenly a panel flipped open in the floor and a mannequin holding a club out at arm's length. It shot along its track up to where Alesandro was standing in the middle of the room, then spun, its club aimed at his shoulders.

Before he could defend himself against that, another one jumped up the floor behind him and swung a club at his knees. In the splitsecond before the two mannequins' weapons connected Alesandro forced power into the ring on his finger.

A wave of shining force rushed out from his body slammed the two mannequins back along their tracks. They bent back, sparks flying as the posts they were on were pushed by Alseandro's power against the back of the track. After a second the pushing force faded and the mannequins sank back into the floor, which had a few new burn scars on it thanks to all the sparks.

Rectangular panels flicked open in the walls and a grey metal bird shot out from one. Another bird from another side, and another bird from another side. Soon the air was full of them, and Alesandro was grinning as he focused his power again.

The gem on his ring flashed and a swirling cloud formed over it. The birds closed in as they flew, scraping his arms and shoulders with their sharp wings. Alesandro grimaced from the pain but waited as they came closer, until almost all of them were just a few feet away.

Then he released his power.

Thick blue energy blasted out of his ring and spiraled outward from his body until it filled the air around him with a rippling vortex that almost reached from floor to ceiling. A loud gurgling, roaring noise started issuing out as the energy snaked further and further outward, forming a shape like a whirlpool with Alesandro standing in the empty area at the center. The attacking birds were trapped in the winding stream of energy surrounding Alesandro and thrown around wildly inside it, crashing together and being smashed against the ground by all the force of of Alesandro's power.

More panels opened, this time in opposite corners of the ceiling. A pair of humanoid robots dropped out and landed with heavy thuds that almost made Alesandro stumble off-balance. They had on black leather jackets for some reason, had red goggles for eyes and three tubes sticking out of their mouths: short, long, and the last one extra-short and wide.

Both pointed their index finger at him like a gun, revealing a hollowed-out fingertip. But what came out weren't bullets. Instead powerful rushes of air came out that blew against the spiraling energy Alesandro had created. Big swathes of his power disappeared as the rushing air cut through them and pelted Alesandro in the face, the pain starting to weaken his concentration.

This only made him clench his teeth and the spiral of his power stretched out again. This time it snaked through the air at the nearer robot, who aimed his wind-gun at it, but the energy looped around its shot. The energy of the column rose up to the ceiling then came down on top of the robot. He struggled against it and started swinging his wind-gun around, but Alesandro clenched a fist and his power surged out, slamming the robot hard against the ceiling. The head and arm snapped off, then his body landed with a crash and didn't get up again.

The other robot realized he was Alesandro's only target and shot wind streams from both hands. Tiny divots were all that appeared in Alesandro's columns of power. One roaring stream of energy twisted through the air, dented but unstopped by the robot's wind-guns, and engulfed it just like the one before.

Alesandro clenched both fists and the current of the vortex whipped the attack robot all the way around the room and slammed it into the wall hard enough to crack it. Alesandro brought back his fist and thrust it forward and his power slammed the robot into the wall again. His metal head broke off on the first smash, his crushed hands flew off on the next one.

Then suddenly there was a deafening explosion Alesandro heard even over the gurgling roar of his own powers and the noise of the robot's destruction. The vortex started to break into small blue clouds as Alesandro's concentration slipped. A second later they disappeared entirely when the room shook hard enough to knock the boy off his feet completely.

As he lay on the floor trying to catch his breath, he wondered if this was a new part of the test. He'd never seen robots like those two, after all. But then red warning lights started spinning in the corners of the room and above the door.

Something bigger than their training was going on.

* * *

The artificial storm was picking up again in the pool room. Nikos was standing on a new platform of Sharp Tide. A wave whipped up in front of him, and he jumped off his platform, which broke up into tiny bits of silver light.

Snarling in anger Nikos lashed out with his fist and a blade of Sharp Tide formed in the air, cutting the wave down the middle. As Nikos came back down another platform appeared under him.

He'd barely gotten his footing when the winds picked up. Another wave, an even bigger one, came straight at him. Again Nikos jumped, and he focused on something he resented about his life.

He swung his fist straight up, thinking of the tiny town on the south tip of the tiny island. The only civilization he'd ever been allowed to see. The only other thing he could see was the mainland in the distance on a clear day. A blade of Sharp Tide as tall as Nikos himself was sliced through the wave and like before it disappeared letting him create a platform to land on.

The winds were getting stronger and Nikos thought of the island's yearly summer festival where he'd met Alesandro for the first time. Good, strong, reliable Alesandro. He was always up for anything, like sailing on those rare occasions Nikos's family would let him actually leave dry land. Or trying to talk Nikos up in front of the village girls (For all the good it did. They were always hypnotized by his flawless looks and his toned muscles).

Was he the only friend Nikos was ever going to have?

A fleck of blue fire erupted on his forehead as he whipped his hand up in anger, forming a wall on one side of his platform the blocked the wind that was pushing him back toward the edge.

"Madam Hyperides, I've never seen him generate that much Sharp Tide before," one operator looked up and explained.

She didn't seem to hear him, instead looking at a security monitor showing the entryway. Two hulking me in black suits and ties, with shiny black sunglasses, were stepping over the smoking remains of the security door leading outside.

"We've been breached," she hissed.

"You mean they're not part of the training?" one operator asked. The other slapped him on the back of his head.

Nikos's mother put on a golden ring with a purple gem. "Secure the training rooms. Don't let those two near the boys no matter what happens," she snapped at the operators, then went for the door.

"What are you going to do, ma'am?" the operator sputtered in disbelief.

"I'm going to keep my son safe. Idiot," she glowered at him before she stepped through the door and sealed it behind her.

* * *

As soon as she heard the heavy thunk of the door sealing behind her, she jumped the railing from the top of the stairs. She came down right in the middle of the hallway in front of the two intruders, her ring exploding with power that punched a small crater in the floor around her.

The two intruders stopped in their tracks. Neither of them flinched or sneered or showed any sign of being impressed by her show of force. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Why are you here?"

"Catherine Hyperides," one of them retorted. "Exceptional user of the Tidal Wave of Flame," he went on, sounding almost robotic.

But as he spoke the blank expression on his face changed to a sneer and he drew a pair of long curved swords out from under his coat. The name LUCA was engraved in large letters on the sides of the blades. The other intruder uncurled the heavy chain around his shoulder, ending in a heavy ball covered in thick spikes almost six inches long.

"Marginal Estuary Flame user," the second one said, not sounding at all like he was swinging a deadly chained weapon in front of him as he and his partner came closer.

She studied them, a smaller ring with a pink stone on her other hand shimmering. Catherine drew herself up to her full height and spoke in her hardest voice. "And from the look of you, the two of you must be Luca the Talent and Marl the Crush. I don't have to ask what you're doing here, do I?" She knew they couldn't be there for her, but she intended for them to know they were in for a fight.

"Hey Marl," chuckled Luca, spinning his swords in front of him once. "She wants to know why we're here. Why don't we show her?"

Then they rushed in her direction, but suddenly split off on different angles. Luca ran to her left and Marl ran to her right, swinging his mace at his side the whole time.

The pink ring shimmered again as she tried to anticipate their attack. That power had never been her strong point, but now it needed to be. If these two got past her, the boys were in for a right they weren't ready for…

Luca suddenly jumped and came diving at her with the tips of his blades held together, aimed at her throat. Catherine clenched her teeth and let herself fall back, Luca going flying over her.

She jumped up but just as she'd been expecting, Marl rushed her and let go of his mace. The spiked ball shot through the air and Catherine desperately sidestepped it but the spikes still scratched her stomach as they went past. She gasped and winced but fought an urge to fall down on her knees.

Had it been so long since she'd been in a fight? Was she getting that weak?

But Catherine shut her eyes for just a second and forced those thoughts of her mind. Her sons…her son and his best friend were depending on her to protect them and didn't even know it. This was her role as a mother. She wouldn't fail in it now.

Both assassins had collected themselves and were coming back for another attack. Luca knocked the blade of one of his swords against the other to make it ring, and grinned at the sharp sound it made, probably pleased with intimidating he thought he was. Marl just smirked as he loosened the chain and twirled his mace again, tossing it from one hand to the other.

She watched them, pink ring glowing softly while she concentrated for what she was going to try next. Her other ring, with a dark purple gem, started giving a dull glow of its own.

Suddenly she screamed and sprinted in between the two assassins. "ROARING END!" She slammed her fist into the ground with all her strength and a wall of rippling purple energy erupted from where her fist had touched the ground. It spread wide and pulled them off their feet and into the air. They were blown backward, right out the door of the training complex.

Luca held onto his swords but when he hit the ground like a bomb he bounced once then went still. Marl's mace spun crazily out of his grasp before both of them crashed down.

Catherine panted from unleashing so much power, something she hadn't done in a long time. But she knew she had to make sure the attackers were silenced before she could relax. She ran outside to where they'd landed, steeling herself for what she needed to do. She raised one hand above Luca's throat.

And froze as the pink ring she wore suddenly erupted with a bright shine.

Luca suddenly sat up and swung a sword while a green glow came from under one of his gloves, the arc of the blade leaving a crackling electric trail in the air.

* * *

Again Nikos shaped the platform into a wall in front of him to block most of the incoming wave. But his wave was higher than any he'd seen yet and the top washed over the top of his wall and smacked into his face. The Sharp Tide he stood on split apart and he fell back into the surging pool again.

The fans closed and the pool stopped churning, but after Nikos hauled himself out again he didn't walk to the edge of the pool. Instead he went to the automated doors that led into the room.

They didn't open.

"You," he said, pointing up at the control booth. "Open these up."

"…you haven't completed the exercise yet, sir," replied one of the operators over a loudspeaker.

"I don't care," Nikos replied sharply. "I've had enough of this bloody training for one day. Open these doors up right now."

There was no answer for a second. "…your mother's given specific instructions for you to stay until you've passed the exercise, sir."

" _My mother_ is not going to be in charge of the famiglia someday," Nikos retorted, glaring up at the glass. The operators flinched back. "You open these doors, _now_ , or I'm coming up there to do it myself." A fleck of aqua-colored light flickered in front of his forehead as he clenched his fists.

Again there was no answer for a second. When it came, the operator's voice was shaking. "We can't, sir. For your safety."

"My safety? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Nikos asked.

Suddenly he jumped back as the door shook on its rails.

"What's going on?" Nikos demanded. There was no answer from the operators, and as the door shook again he turn and ran back across the wet deck and dove into the pool as fast as he could. A second later the doors went flying off and the fireball of the explosion that did it spilled into the training room.

Nikos stayed underwater for almost the whole three and a half minutes he could've if he'd been in the mood to test his limits. But he wasn't, and after no more signs of a violent break-in he carefully rose to the surface of the pool.

Standing there on the deck waiting for him was a man in a tattered white shirt and black suit pants, his shoes scuffed and ripped. He had on shiny sunglasses and black leather gloves, the finger of one having been ripped back to reveal a ring set with a bright green stone. In his hands were a pair of shining curved swords, the name LUCA engraved onto them.

"Nikos Hyperides," he said, almost robotically. "Heir to the leadership of the Hyperides Famiglia, if I'm not much mistaken."

"And you're a killer sent to make sure that doesn't happen, if _I'm_ not much mistaken," Nikos replied. The green ring on Luca's finger started to glow, and his swords hissed with sheaths of electricity. "Guess that answers my question," Nikos muttered.

"Lemme give ya a kiss, Nikos," Luca grinned before he came spinning at Nikos with his electrified swords held out.

For a second a cold, prickling ball seemed to bounce around in Nikos's stomach. A man who very clearly meant to kill him was only a few feet away. But trained reflexes took over, he thrust his arm up in front of him and focused on the heavy ring on his finger like he had a hundred thousand times before when he was being threatened by a wave.

A disc of Sharp Tide formed in midair and Luca's sword ricocheted off it. The assassin gasped in surprise and staggered away, giving Nikos a chance to spread his arms and reshape his summoned Sharp Tide into a long spear he sent flying at Luca.

Seeing the incoming attack, Luca dodged backward and Nikos twisted his arm, making the spear curve itself and pin his arms to his body.

Luca did the absolute last thing Nikos was expecting: he held up his swords and touched his own body. Electricity danced all over him, making him tremble and contort horrifically, but the Sharp Tide pinning him cracked then shattered.

Smoke rose from his body while Luca sank to one knee. Slowly his mouth opened in a disturbingly wide smile. "You're going to need to try harder than that, _Nikos Hyperides_ ," he said as he stood up, then walked closer with his swords throwing sparks from the blades.


	2. Chapter 2: Not in Father's Footsteps

**World of Katekyo Hitman Reborn!: The Hyperides Famiglia**

Chapter 02: Not in Father's Footsteps

"Why are the doors locked? Why won't anyone answer?" Alesandro demanded.

Like the other times, the only answer was silence. Finally he released the intercom button by the doors that still refused to open.

Sighting in frustration he stepped back. He'd only started trying to figure out what was going on when the door shook loudly, a huge round dent forming in the middle. Another second and the door rocked in the frame again.

Alesandro retreated and closed a fist with his right hand. He had a feeling he knew what was coming and knew he'd need room to move if those doors didn't hold.

Again it shook from whatever was beating on it from the other side, and one half of the door sagged off its railing and leaned against the other. The ring on Alesandro's finger flickered yellow as he readied himself, and then a second later it happened. The doors creaked from another hit and fell onto the floor with a boom.

Then a huge spiked ball came shooting through the empty doorway and straight for Alesandro's chest. He dodged to the side just in time, one spike still digging a thin red ribbon in his side.

Coming in through the devastated doorway was a man with the broadest shoulders and baldest head Alesandro had ever seen. He had on mirrored sunglasses and the tattered remains of a tailored black suit. He held a heavy chain and with a pull the spiked mace that had almost crushed Alesandro arced through the air back into his hand.

"You've made a mistake, friend," Alesandro said. His face was totally neutral, and he leaned back in a defensive stance, waiting for the intruder to make the first move. He concentrated and lit the ring on his finger, yellow light with a blue to the sides seeping from its gemstone.

"Alesandro Galatos," he said flatly, reciting the information from memory. "Whirlpool Flame. Proficient but…untested."

"I had no idea I was so fascinating," Alesandro replied, smirking. "Where _did_ you read that about me? Am I some glamour magazine's most eligible bachelor?" It felt good to ask something so ridiculous. It was his role. To attract attention and keep their enemies from focusing on anything but him.

Marl, the attacker, sneered at the remark but said nothing, only swinging his weapon at his side. He was clearly looking for an opening. The youth looked down at the wound Marl's weapon had left on his side and for a second a flicker of doubt danced in his eyes.

In that second Marl's mace looped through the air, aimed at his target's heart. Alesandro threw himself backward, his hands hitting the ground first and going into a somersault with an enviable ease from years of training. The metal of the floor creaked as Marl yanked his weapon out and threw it again at where Alesandro was rolling.

But Alesandro seemed to be anticipating it, jumping almost to the top of the room to avoid the attack as soon as his feet touched the floor again. As he was he in the air he thrust out the fist with his ring, unleashing the power he'd been collecting. A stream of energy spiraled out from the ring just as Marl recovered his weapon with another yank. Alesandro's power washed over the head of Marl's mace and dragged it across the room. Since the chain was wrapped around his shoulder Marl let out a yelp and was dragged along the floor after it.

Alesandro let himself enjoy a small feeling of victory. The energy of his Whirlpool Flame surged and rippled as it spiralled longer and longer out from where he was standing, and pulling Marl farther and farther away.

That was when Marl untied himself from the chain.

The assassin jumped to his feet then jumped high into the air, curling himself over the whirlpool filling the room. As he came down a ring on his hand started glowing with an ugly brown light, just like the energy forming around his gigantic fists. Aimed straight at Alesandro's head.

* * *

The air seemed to burn as Luca's electrified swords slashed out again and again, the relentless killer seeming to be able guess which way Nikos was about to dodge. One sword came down hard on the deck and only his practiced reflexes got Nikos to dodge back in time to avoid losing a toe.

But again Luca just came at him again, not making a sound except for the crackling and hissing of the green lightning charging the weapons he swung at Nikos's neck. The youth held up his fist, the ring on his finger glowing brighter even than when he'd been trying to protect himself the waves.

An upright disc of Sharp Tide the size of a baseball formed in the air and shot at Luca. The assassin clenched his brow in confusion at what the young heir might be attempting with such a small projectile. He crossed his swords in front of him and the disc of Sharp Tide shattered as it hit them.

Suddenly he shouted in surprise as the ground seemed to yank itself out from under him. The platform of Sharp Tide that Nikos had formed under his feet flickered away as the youth ran for a grate. He stopped and skidded the last few feet across the water-splattered deck between him and the wall.

He didn't bother with subtlety: Nikos formed a blade from Sharp Tide then slashed right through the bolts holding the grate up, then grabbed the edge and threw himself inside feet-first. The rushing air of the ventilation fans blew hard against him as he slid inside, quickly drying the water off his skin as he hit the T-junction at the back.

"Running away? Am I ugly or something? We haven't seen the stars together yet!" Luca jeered. He started climbing into the vent after Nikos, who turned around and tried for the most precise creation of Sharp Tide he'd ever made.

A rippling blob of the silvery matter appeared in the air between Luca's swords and his head as he tried to crawl into the vent while holding onto his weapons. It smashed into its face and started covering the skin, seeping into his mouth, his nose and his eyes. A scream of surprise was smothered by the Sharp Tide that seemed to pull itself over his head.

Luca dropped his swords, then punched himself in the face with his electrified green ring. The Sharp Tide shot tendrils out in every direction as if alive then crumbled away to nothing. He grabbed his swords from where he'd left them, but Nikos Hyperides was nowhere in sight. The mark had given him the slip.

* * *

Marl's energized fists slammed into Alesandro's chest and knocked him across the room. Through the haze of pain he was dimly aware of hitting the wall and sliding down onto his stomach. He tried to push himself up to his feet again but Marl's foot come down on his head, and it seemed to hum with a power beyond a normal man's strength pinning him to the floor.

But just because he was pinned, didn't mean Alesandro was helpless. The whirlpool he'd created before had faded since Marl punched him into the wall, but a smaller one would work better now…

Again he collected his power as Marl held out one hand, a brown glow spreading from it to where his mace had landed. "You need that even with me stuck to the floor, huh?" Alesandro asked, trying to make sure the assassin's attention was away from his ring.

"Killing you has to be messy," Marl said flatly, as if just reading off his instructions. "They want you to be an example."

"And who's 'they'?"

Marl looked down and met his eyes, or so it looked with the mirrored sunglasses Marl still had on. "You think I'm dumb enough to tell you that, kid?"

Alesandro grinned at the question. "Well, what's the alternative? You fail and I get away to go after your boss? You're supposed to be really good, I bet, if they hired you to come after us like this."

"Shut up, kid," was Marl's only reply. His mace was floating across the room by then, and the last thing Alesandro planned to do was let him get it back. His ring suddenly erupted with its yellow light and a beam of energy shot up in a tight spiral, instead of the huge one covering the whole room he'd used before.

A scream of surprise went up as it caught Marl between the shoulders and lifted him off the ground and slammed him into the ceiling. As he became dazed from the hard impact his concentration was broken and the power pinning Alesandro faded.

As soon as he got up, though, Alesandro's thoughts weren't on continuing the fight but making an escape. No-one would send an assassin just to get rid of him, so if one was there had to be at least one other, and he knew who their real target was.

He ran for the back of the training room and slipped his fingernails into a hidden seam that he pulled back on, revealing a secret door. As Marl recovered, dragging his mace behind him as he ran for the door himself, Alesandro slammed it shut in the assassin's face.

* * *

The youth ran down the secret passage, dodging around every turn despite the almost total darkness meant to disorient an enemy who managed to get inside. He was heading for the door hidden in the other training room, his stomach clenching a little at what he might or might not be in time to find there.

Suddenly Alesandro heard a strange sound a little way ahead. Thump. Slide. Thump. Slide. It sounded like it was coming from inside the wall.

Cautiously he charged his ring again, then a grating near him shook and cracked, then fell off. And out of the vent fell a boy his own age wearing but black speedos.

"Nikos!...Thank God, I thought that was another intruder," Alesandro sighed with relief and then grinned.

"He's probably right behind me," Nikos replied. "What about you?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

Alesandro held his arms akimbo and smiled even wider. "You know nothing can hurt me."

"Alex…please just tell me the truth," Nikos said quietly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm all right, Nick. It's my job," Alesandro replied. "But since _you're_ all right, we better get to the safe room before they catch up to us."

"What do you mean it's your 'job'?" Nikos asked, but Alesandro just put his hand on his friend's shoulder, turned him around and urged him down the hallway.

Nikos stepped away after a minute and led the way down a staircase in the near-darkness. They led onto a metal catwalk that went to a vast open room, an octagon-shaped dome in the middle of the empty space ahead of them. The sliding doors in front were already open and shining a welcoming yellow light from inside. It was only supposed to do that if an emergency had been declared by the control room upstairs.

Quickly but quietly the two of them ducked inside where Nikos turned a large red wheel and the sliding doors closed behind them. There was a loud THUNK as the doors sealed airtight. "They'll never get us now," Alesandro laughed.

Nikos walked over to a chair a table with a clear surface. Both were made out of hard plastic to be functional rather than comfortable. His friend knew that wasn't why Nikos kept looking back and forth and running his hands back and forth across the surface of the table, though. "How about some chess?" Alesandro suggested.

"Just so you can beat me _again_? No thanks," Nikos replied, squirming a little in his seat.

"I'll go easy on you if it'll help you calm down," Alesandro replied, knowing it wasn't a distraction his friend needed. Nikos didn't do well when he was expected to just sit around and let things happen around him. One thing Alesandro knew beyond anything else in his life was that Nikos was going to be a fine Boss when his time came, but when he was the Boss he wasn't going to be stuck in a sealed room waiting for things to play out.

"I suppose now we need to let the main family know we've been attacked," Nikos said, and stared at the communications array underneath the wall of monitors.

"We should only need to be here a few hours at most," Alesandro said. "If they don't figure out they can't get through and just pull out."

"Funny how you sound like you know to expect how long it'll take," Nikos said, giving his friend a bemused look.

Alesandro shrugged. "It's just common sense. The mainland's not _that_ far away."

Nikos looked over at him with the same neutral expression for a few more seconds then shook his head and started over to the console. He leaned over to it and then stopped, his eyes caught on something on one of the monitors. It was the view of the approach to the front doors of the training complex. Along with a pair of human-sized dents in the ground, someone was lying outside.

A wisp of aqua-colored light formed on Nikos's forehead. The gemstone on his ring _erupted_ with energy.

"Nick? What's wrong?" Alesandro asked.

"Mother…they killed her…"

Alesandro came over and saw for himself what Nikos was talking about. He put a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder. "That just proves how dangerous they are. We need to stay here until help comes."

But Nikos actually growled and pulled away from his hand. He went straight to the door, tapped a sequence into a keypad and spun the red wheel that had sealed it before.

"Nick…what are you doing?!" Alesandro yelled.

"I'm settling the score," Nikos replied as the doors unlocked and he ran back out.

* * *

Alesandro sputtered in surprise and ran out after his friend. "Nick, wait!" he called, but Nikos didn't wait. The aqua light on his head was spreading wider as he got to the end of the walkway and up to the stairs, but that was where Alesandro caught up to him.

He clamped a hand around Nikos's shoulder. "What are you doing?" Nikos asked coldly.

"I'm trying to keep you safe from the killers upstairs."

"You're doing a hell of a job!" laughed a snide voice. The dancing bolts of green light in the darkness left no mystery who it was. "You couldn't have been in there two minutes!"

"You won't be _alive_ in two minutes," Nikos snarled, his ring glowing so bright the metal seemed to be heating up.

Yellow light shined next to him as Alesandro charged his own Flame, there was no point in trying to get his friend to safety now. This would only be over once they'd punished the famiglia's enemies.

Luca swung both of his electrified swords down hard, the power built up shooting out like whips in Nikos's direction. Scowling, Nikos held out his fist and two discs of Sharp Tide formed, catching the electric bolts and bouncing them over his head without doing any damage.

The assassin's ring was shining again but Nikos dashed over to him and slammed his shoulder into Luca's gut, a heavy curved pad made of Sharp Tide forming over the shoulder as he did. Luca recovered his balance and dug in his feet but grimaced in pain as Nikos pushed him backward.

Nikos jumped back and held out his ring that glowed even hotter, forming a round concentration of Sharp Tide, with wide arms like a windmill's sticking out of it, and willed it to spin. The arms whipped out, hitting Luca's swords over and over until they were shaken out of his hands. He pulled back his arms and shook out his fingers, cursing at the pain.

All eyes were on Luca, and it was all the invitation Alesandro needed to fire off the power of his ring. Marl gasped and tossed his mace above Alesandro's head, the head glowing with brown energy and already starting to come down with greater speed. But Alesandro had fired first and already his widest whirlpool stream had spiraled out far enough from him to catch both assassins and blow them both into a wall. The whirlpool faded after that, the quick charge he'd been able to accumulate already spent.

Marl and Luca recovered and broke into low sprints in different directions. Marl came at Nikos, dragging his mace behind him, but the youth was glaring angrily at him, obviously ready to defend himself. Small pellets of Sharp Tide shot through the air like bullets and splashed painfully all over the assassin's body to keep him off-balance, leaving the skin red and exposed wherever they hit.

The mace flew, glowing with power, but the aqua light on Nikos's forehead was almost a foot tall by then and a rippling blob of Sharp Tide appeared in the mace's way out of nowhere. The spiked weapon sank into the silvery mass and stopped cold, even charged by Marl's power.

Then Nikos retaliated. A C-shaped loop of Sharp Tide formed and shot out at Marl, pinning his arms against the wall. Alesandro dashed over and blasted Marl with one of his tight, focused whirlpool streams, knocking Marl into the air. The assassin went up in an arc and as he came down Alesandro ran under him and hit him with another focused whirlpool blast. Again Marl went up in an arc, and again Alesandro caught him with another whirlpool blast as he came down, sending him flying over the roof of the safe room behind them.

Meanwhile Luca sent a stream of sparks flying from his ring at Nikos, who fired back with bullets of Sharp Tide. Luca's shots left red lacerations all over Nikos's exposed skin, making the teen stagger back and forth trying to avoid more damage, the aqua light around his forehead had gotten even taller and was burning like a true flame.

Nikos's counter-shots splashed violently against the assassin's body, hitting harder and harder with each one he fired. Luca broke into a run down the walkway, making Nikos's next shots go wide. He shoved his sparking green ring up against an open cut on Nikos's chest, making him yell at the top of his lungs in pain. Luca grabbed him and jabbed the ring in even tighter and looked over at Alesandro who was charging up to help. "One more step and I'll put so much power into this it'll cut him in half, kid!" Luca warned.

Despite the pain from Luca's power, Nikos looked his friend in the eye. Then suddenly he clapped his hands down over his ears. Alesandro smiled confidently and held up his ring, then his ring gave off a horrible, deafening noise, like millions of gallons of water churning in a whirlpool big enough to swallow a city. Luca screamed in pain and tried to cover his own ears, unwittingly tapping his ring to his temple.

The green energy did no harm to him, not surprising after he shocked himself to escape Nikos before, but it did give Nikos the chance to recover enough to shoot off a lump of Sharp Tide the size of a manhole cover, its outer rim covered in fist-shaped knobs. It spun as it flew out and crashed into Luca, pummeling him repeatedly as its speed picked up.

Then Nikos ran over as fast as he could and threw a jump kick at the back of the Sharp Tide construct. He focused his concentration on it, making it spin and batter Luca faster and faster while the kick slammed the construct against him to pummel him even harder.

As he focused more of power into it the ring on Nikos's finger melted off into a lump of red-hot slag. Nikos yelle in pain and clutched his hand. Luca gasped out and stumbled back almost eight feet before he recovered and started to shove his fist out to attack again.

He never got the chance. Alesandro jumped between the two of them and fired off a focused blast from his ring. Luca flew down the hall, hit the wall with a splat and fell down. He didn't get back up.

* * *

As soon as he saw that their opponent wasn't attacking anymore, Nikos jumped over Luca, covering a large cut on his chest with his hand. He ran up the stairs with Alesandro right behind him until they got to where the hall deadended against a wall. It slid so fast on its rails it screamed as he yanked it open.

"Nikos, wait! You're hurt!" Alesandro called, but wasn't the least bit surprised when he was ignored. Instead Nikos ran out of the training complex, to the path in front where his mother was laying. He crouched down next to her, and as soon as his scarred hand touched her shoulder she groaned and squirmed.

"Mother…," Nikos breathed. Catherine rolled over onto her back, then blinked her eyes a few times.

"You're all right?" she asked, looking up at Alesandro and Nikos. "What happened? Where are those two killers?"

"We stopped them, I think," Alesandro said.

"Forget about us," Nikos said softly, helping his mother sit up by draping her arm over his shoulder. "What happened with _you_? I was afraid they killed you!"

Catherine shook her head, chuckling. "I've been out of the game a while, but not _that_ long that I'll die the first time I get into a fight again…what happened to your hand?" she asked, her expression turning serious suddenly. She grabbed Nikos's wrist and stared down with concern at the circle of darkened skin around his middle finger where his ring had been.

"I…I ruined my ring," Nikos said, sounding like he was admitting to breaking his parents' rules.

"You should've seen it," Alesandro said, grinning his usual blinding grin again. "He absolutely _smashed_ that guy…what was his name, Nick?"

"Your father's going to hear about this," Catherine coughed.

Nikos sighed. "I know the ring was important, but losing my power doesn't matter if it saves your life!"

For a second his mother looked at him with an expression of confusion, then tossed back her head and laughed. She only stopped when she broke into a coughing fit. But as the youths gave her a nervous look she held up her hand, and a minute later had recovered herself.

"You didn't lose your power, that not how those rings work," she said with an exhausted smile. "You destroyed it because you put more power into it than a practice ring like that was meant to handle. There's a much greater one than that."

"Look," Alesandro interrupted them. The two operators from the training complex were staggering out of the door, mouths hanging open wide at disbelief they'd survived.

"We already notified the Boss," one of them gasped. "He'll be here soon."

"Lock down the complex until then to make sure those two don't get out," Catherine ordered. "And you boys…you'd better help me back to the manor."

* * *

Barely an hour later a sleek white helicopter landed behind the manor house. Five men in dark suits and sunglasses got out, but Nikos and Alesandro recognized them on sight. Especially the one who split off from the others as they jogged down the path to the training complex to secure it. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with a thin black beard and his fingers each seeming to sport a different gold or platinum ring. As he came into the house the butler hastily took off the hand-stitched leather overcoat resting on his shoulders, and he took off his sunglasses and hid them in a pocket inside his suit jacket.

"Sir Estevan," the butler said, almost whispered, really. "Your family is waiting upstairs."

"My family is fine," he replied "They're my family."

He went up the stairs to the enormous room with the four-poster bed, made of hand-carved wood showing rushing waves and sailing ships, where his wife lay on silk sheets of a rich green. "Catherine…are you all right?" he asked after he was at her side.

"I'm fine, Estevan," she said with a soft smile. "It's not me you should really be talking to about what happened, though."

"Oh no?" he asked, pulling on his beard.

She nodded slowly, taking in a labored breath. "Yes, Nikos has a new scar he needs to show you."

Estevan nodded, leaned over and kissed his wife on the forehead. She smiled a little wider but pointed out the window, and glancing through it he saw Nikos, now dressed in blue suit pants and vest over a white long-sleeved shirt, out in the back garden with Alesandro. They were sitting and talking at a black wrought iron table surrounded by tall hedges, but Nikos had on black leather gloves. Yes, Estevan didn't see his son much anymore, but Nikos had never worn those.

A few minutes later Estevan stepped out of the back doors. Nikos and Alesandro stopped their conversation as he appeared, and Alesandro nodded before quickly disappearing back inside the house. Estevan sat down in his chair.

"Well son, you've had your first on your attempt on your life. Savor it. A lot more are coming."

"You say that kind of like it's something I'm supposed to enjoy," Nikos looked across at his father.

"I'm stating it as a fact of life," Estevan replied, calmly but firmly. "You're the heir to a powerful position, my son. That attracts unpleasant people. Some will try to exploit you, some will try to kill you. Some won't be any good at what they're trying to accomplish, some will."

Nikos looked away and shrugged. "I wouldn't know the difference yet."

"I think you might know it better than me," Estevan replied, smiling faintly. "I didn't fight off the first assassin who came after me. Not the second or the third one either. If I hadn't had some formidable protectors, you wouldn't be here. You, though, you've already got enough of a foothold with the Sea Flame…show me your hand."

Slowly, Nikos pulled off his glove to show the darkened skin where he'd always worn his ring. "It's true. You really did melt the ring right off your hand," Estevan observed.

"Dr. Aristos says it's nothing serious."

"Well, he's wrong. That you could do something is very serious…" Estevan murmured.

Unsure of where his father might be leading the conversation about the assassination attempt, Nikos nodded. "Mom told me there's a stronger one."

"There is, son. When you've earned it," his father confirmed, patting his shoulder. Estevan held up his right hand, sporting numerous fine rings as usual. On his middle finger was one made of silver, with a black band. There was a frame engraved with tiny arches around a clear blue stone, a dark image inside showing rolling waves.

"You have something else in mind you really want to talk about though," Nikos said.

Estevan nodded slowly, his already faint smile fading completely. "Nikos, the fact is, the Hyperides famiglia is seen as weak now, after it got out about the 6th Boss having another wife on the side. I have a fine group of Guardians who can protect me, but as I said I've never been much of a warrior.

"You and a single Guardian in training fought off those assassins, though, and so I've decided that we're going to stop isolated training like you've had here on Pelacidos. I'm not putting you on duty until someone else gets here—"

Nikos looked over at his father in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"This is an unusual decision," Estevan went on. "Usually the Boss-to-be isn't given official duties until he's taken over. But the famiglia needs an obvious martial presence, someone who can fight back against our enemies, and that's something I can't be the one to provide. I've always been a negotiator, a master of ceremonies, fighting just doesn't come to me. So I'm making you a famiglia envoy as of today, Nikos. If we need to send someone to show a powerful presence on our behalf, from now on it'll be you and the allies we've been training."

That news made Nikos lean back hard in his chair. His mouth hung open in disbelief, and after a bit he managed to look his father in the eye. "That means I'm not going to be kept on the island anymore?"

Estevan nodded. " _After_ another of your allies is here to help ensure your safety. Let's not forget this is because someone made an attempt on your life."

"But I'm going to be allowed to leave, see the rest of the world?" Nikos pressed his father.

That made Estevan laugh out loud. "Nikos, I just answered that question. Yes, you're going to see the world. But you're going to have to be able to act like a proper Boss."

Nikos wasn't worried about what his father was implying by that. If it meant getting off this island, to be in control of himself, he wasn't afraid.


	3. Chapter 3: Road to the World

Chapter 03: Road to the World

As he stepped into the sunlight Estevan Hyperides flicked open his sunglasses and slid them over his eyes. His four black-suited guards walked in a square formation around him as they stepped out of the concrete bunker and started up the road to the manor house on top of the hill overlooking the island.

"Boss…," one of them began after a minute, then checked himself and fell into silence again.

"Speak up, Andre. You know I trust you with my life," Estevan prompted him.

"Boss, it's just that…why are we wasting time interrogating those two?"

Estevan didn't answer right away while they continued up the road. As they got close enough that a butler ran outside and held one of the massive double doors open for him, he coolly replied, "Those two didn't break my window with a baseball. They tried to kill the heir, and I intend to find out who hired them. Until they tell us, we're going to keep asking. A little harder every time."

"I mean why are we wasting time asking them when we know who it was, Boss," Andre clarified quietly.

"Even if we did, you know better than to sacrifice the advantage of surprise," Estevan countered. "We're not confronting anyone until we get a confession and our people verify it." His eyes tracked out over the ocean to the left of the manor before he stepped inside. He focused on the long, pearl-white yacht turning back toward the dock behind the house.

Standing at the wheel near the rear was Nikos, but he had one of the widest smiles Estevan had ever seen on his young face, his eyes wide and bright enough to be seen even that far away.

It was like Nikos had never worn that awful scowl from the day before at all.

"Boss?...Boss?"

"…What?" Estevan asked, shaking a little in surprise at hearing the question.

"You all right? If there'd been an attacker around you would've been a sitting duck."

Straightening his sunglasses, Estevan smirked a little. "Maybe you'll understand when you're a father, Andre," he replied. Then they entered the house and the butler locked the doors shut behind them.

* * *

Coming in home, he killed the motor and let the boat coast slowly and safely into the dock. Picking up the mooring rope he threw it to the waiting dock hand who helped tie off the yacht.

Nikos came into the house through the back garden, thinking about how he might fill the rest of the day. Alesandro was in town telling his family the "exciting" news about how he and Nikos were being allowed to start working for the famiglia, but Nikos' family was still dealing with the attack by those two assassins.

He looked down at his hand and splayed the fingers, focusing on the circle of warped skin around his middle finger. From where he'd worn the special ring that let him channel his Se Flame, but he'd melted it off after he'd used more power than it was meant to handle. Had it done permanent damage?

Still wondering that, he sat down at the concert grand piano in the upstairs parlor, the one with windows covering nearly every inch of wall and giving a breathtaking view of the ocean.

Strange. He'd never really thought of it that way before.

Slowly Nikos started tapping out the keys to an easy, familiar piece. The knuckle on his injured hand ached a little, but he kept tapping away and in a few minutes his fingers were picking at the keys completely on instinct. A pair of the maids leaned over to peer through the door, then gasped and slipped away down the hall as they saw someone else coming down the hall.

Nikos struck furiously at the keys, his mind totally absorbed in the procession of notes, the slight sting from his scarred finger completely unnoticed. As he hit the crescendo he was so absorbed in his music he didn't even notice the dark shape hovering in the doorway. "It was your mother's suggestion to let you learn the piano," they said.

* * *

He looked over and there, leaning against the doorframe, smiling and drumming his fingers against his arm, was Estevan. "She thought it would help take your mind off of being here on Pelacidos. Doesn't sound like it was working that well just recently, huh?"

"I…I was seeing if my dexterity was affected by my ring melting off," Nikos said, trying to deflect the question.

Estevan nodded, then walked in slowly. "Usually those low-quality training rings just explode into dust when they're overcharged. You put so much power into yours so suddenly it really melted right off, didn't it?" he said, and held up a lump of black metal with a small chip of blue peeking out through the mess. "I think I'll keep this in my trophy case."

"It's not like I meant to do that!" Nikos replied anxiously

He stared in surprise Estevan tossed back his head and laughed. "You're misunderstanding me. You have no idea I'm so _impressed_ you could channel so much power so suddenly you _melted_ the ring!"

Nikos rubbed the back of his head, just nodding for a little while. His father put the lump of metal in his pocket, but his hand came out again clenched around something. He opened his fingers revealing another ring, made of a black band and a blue gem brighter and clearer than Nikos's old one.

Instead of handing it over, Estevan asked, "Tell me Corban's credo for the Reef Flame."

"To stand firm, to shelter and protect, become an impenetrable obstacle," Nikos replied from memory.

"The first Boss was a bit of a philosopher, eh?" Estevan asked absently. "I suppose he never would've found out about the Dying Will Flames of the Sea, if not for such a disciplined lifestyle."

Nikos looked away. "Disciplined lifestyle…I guess now you're going to try get me to agree that spending my whole life here was worth it, because all that training saved me."

His father walked closer, then clapped his other hand around Nikos's shoulder. "What was Corban's credo for the primary Sea Flame?" he asked.

Knowing better than to expect anything from his father until the question was answered, Nikos said, "To ebb and flow, rise and sink, rage and swallow, but always endure. Sharp Tide is the sword of the ocean." He immediately went on, "And what he meant by it is that the Boss has be able to flow with his circumstances. To be strong when the famiglia is confronted, to be generous when the powerless are in need. And to react with speed and decisiveness when he sees what's coming because the Boss has so many people who rely on him."

That was when Estevan extended his hand under his son's face and uncurled his fingers to reveal the ring again. "Nikos, you were trained since you were a child because the Dying Will Flames of the Sea require a lot more discipline to wield effectively than other Flames. Almost no other famiglia bother trying to use the Sea Flames for that reason. But the Hyperides have made it our hallmark because we believe the discipline it teaches carries over to every aspect of our duties."

He held out the ring toward his son. "Power must be controlled, or it can easily flow back and corrupt its user. This ring, and your new position, mean I'm trusting you to always remember that. People's entire lives can easily depend on what you do, and not just the Guardians directly under your command."

Slowly Nikos reached out and took the ring and started to slide it down his finger to where he'd worn his old one, but Estevan held out his hand to stop his son.

"Wear it here," he said, indicating the ring finger. Nikos gave him a questioning look, and his father smiled. "Leave the scar visible so you can always see right away how strong you are, my son. And so others can see it right away too."

"This isn't the actual Boss's ring, though, is it?" Nikos asked. "You and your Guardians, you're going to keep those yourselves."

His father nodded. "For now," Estevan said. "But wear that with pride, son. You've proven you can bring out its full potential."

Nikos put on the ring as he'd been told, then concentrated and a needle of blue light, brighter and purer than any he'd conjured before, stabbed out. Estevan took off his sunglasses and stared at it, smiling softly with pride. Seeing his father's reaction, Nikos let it fade again. "I…I think I'm going into town for a while. If you think I can take care of myself for that long."

Estevan grinned and laughed. "Go. Enjoy yourself. You're not leaving right away."

But now, Nikos knew he was finally leaving.

"Oh, and one other thing," Estevan smiled a little, then tossed a small object through the air.

* * *

An unseasonably cool wind was blowing across the island, seeming to make the bright colors of all the flowers, the dazzling white walls of most of the houses and red tiled roofs look even brighter. A group of kids ran up the street, a grinning boy chasing two girls who shrieked as they smiled. The two girls dodged around Nikos and the boy was going so fast he almost ran right into the heir, before Nikos held out his hand, smiling gently and correcting the boy's course around him.

As he came into the street a middle-aged man Nikos had always ignored before that day tried to sell him a crate of top-quality olive oil, like he had every other time Nikos had walked past his shop. A teenage girl rode a bright blue bicycle past Nikos, turning and sticking her tongue out at a boy on a bicycle of his own who was smiling as he tried to catch up to her.

Looking around at everything it was kind of hard to believe the biggest part of the Greek mafia was overseeing pretty much everything on the island.

And that one day, Nikos was going to be the one overseeing the biggest part of the Greek mafia.

He looked down the street he was on, and noticed something different about it. He'd walked along it hundreds of times from the time he was a child.

How _big_ everything looked all of a sudden.

The houses. The sky. The ocean he could see through the spaces between buildings.

Last time he'd taken this walk the island had felt like jail. He'd had practically no life outside of training and no idea when, if, he'd ever be allowed to leave.

Now…

Now…...

He smiled. And the street seemed to get a little warmer.

"Nick!" Nikos looked up. Waving to him down at the far corner, the usual blinding movie star smile in place, was Alesandro Galatos.

And standing right next to him, almost touching him, was another familiar face. She was a girl, shorter than either of them, her skin an exotic olive tone and her build what might've politely been called "petite." Nikos had never thought much about it, though. Even though he'd always been entranced by her curly brown hair, her tiny heart-shaped face and grey eyes he felt like he could drown in.

He'd never thought much about any of that, because even though Aretha Mitsotakas had grown up on the island just like the two of them, it seemed that all the time she was only pouring praise on Alesandro.

So Nikos jogged down the rest of the way. "Alex, got a present for you! Catch!" Nikos called, then tossed something through the air. Without even having to move from Aretha's side, Alesandro swiped his hand through the air and caught Nikos's gift.

"How beautiful!" Aretha gushed as Alesandro revealed it. In his hand was a ring with a black band, a yellow gem set into a silver base with small arches engraved into the metal. It was just like Nikos's new ring except for the color of the stone, much more regal-looking and durable than the training rings they'd been using before.

"Do I have to ask what this is for?" Alesandro said, but the hopeful tone of his voice gave away what he was expecting to hear.

"It's official," Nikos smiled. "The Boss is putting us to work."

"We were that good, huh?" Alesandro almost whooped as he pulled off his old ring, which Nikos noticed for the first time had a jagged crack across the gem and the silver base was covered in black scorch marks. He'd pushed it to its limits too, it looked like.

Aretha looked up at Alesandro, her mouth dropping open in awe. "It's finally happening?" she asked, her hands clenching and starting to quiver.

"Well, kind of! We're not taking over yet. That's not until next week!" he said, his voice turning teasing. "But all joking aside, let's go out and enjoy a last day on the island, huh?"

"I've already done everything there is to do here," Nikos said with a shrug.

"That's why it's perfect!" Alesandro said and slapped him on the back. "It'll be the last time we do things on this island before we become real mafia-types! We're real men now! Let's see how everything feels, knowing that!"

"That's…a point, actually," Nikos replied, then smiled a little. "All right, I'm in. What do you feel like first?"

Alesandro slapped him between the shoulders again. "Don't ask me, you're the Boss!" he replied.

He thought for a minute, Alesandro and Aretha waiting expectantly for his answer. "Okay, let's go down to the white sands first," Nikos decided.

Aretha gasped and smiled at the same time. "It's so beautiful down there…"

"Not bad, Nick," Alesandro replied. "Last one there can buy Aretha an ice cream! He can make up for making her feel so sorry for him!" He smiled and dashed off.

"You might get more girls, but I'm still _faster_ than you!" Nikos yelled back and ran after him, catching up after five steps, then taking the leader.

Aretha laughed and ran after them. "Hey! Maybe I won't take it from either of you if all you do is fight over me!"

"It's a virile man's way to impress a beautiful girl!" Alesandro called back playfully.

As the three ran down the street toward the coast, none of them noticed a massive shadow step out of an alley and watch them go.

One huge hand reached into a bag he was holding, pulled out a bright red potato chip, and slid it into his enormous mouth.

* * *

The three got to the end of the street, the black pavement ending at a small square of grey cobblestones and then emptying out onto a white beach. Aretha kicked off her sandals and ran out onto the sand, giggling as she went down to where the water met the beach and tinted the edge turquoise.

Nikos and Alesandro stopped at the edge of the sand, panting and shining with sweat. Leaning on his knees as he caught his breath, Nikos asked, "What in the hell were you doing, running down a side street like that?"

"What the hell made _you_ go after me?" Alesandro replied with his usual grin.

"I was…I was just trying to see if I could keep up all the way down here," Nikos gasped, smiling back at his friend.

He turned away then, and straightened up and just stopped, looking out at the sea.

For years, the endless sapphire-blue waters of the ocean surrounding the island had seemed like something he could never get beyond to see what the rest of the world had to offer. Now, as the waves gently came in and out, pulling away from the white sands on the beach, he seemed to see the white triangles of sailing boats on the horizon for the first time, taking people to the faint outline of the mainland on the horizon.

"Something on your mind?" Alesandro asked, gently prodding him.

"It's a road," Nikos answered, talking more to himself.

"A road?"

"Yes," Nikos said distantly. "The ocean. It's a road that goes all the way to the mainland."

Aretha jogged back up in time to hear his declaration. "A road that goes to the mainland? That's…kind of deep, Nick?" she asked even as she tried to smile, sounding unsure.

"It always just seemed different. Like a wall that always kept me here," he explained, then shrugged. "Now it looks…like a way to someplace else, I guess."

Both of them jumped as Alesandro laughed a proud, bellowing laugh. "It's happening already! You're seeing with different eyes, Nick!"

Nikos slowly stood straight up, clenching his fist in front of his chest and Alesandro was sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that for a moment the stone on his ring lit up. "I am, aren't I?" Nikos admitted. "How about some ice cream? Boss's treat."

He'd hardly finished talking before Alesandro sprinted down the speech toward the stand. "Only if you beat me there!" he called over his shoulder.

"It never stops with him," Nikos sighed lightly at the same time he smiled.

Aretha laughed quietly and slid her arm through his but didn't take his hand. "Well Boss, instead of rushing around why don't we relax for your last day on the island? This might be the last time things slow down enough for a while."

"You know," Nikos said as they walked casually up to where Alesandro had stopped at a stand where an old lady was scooping ice cream for them, "I'd thought about what this day would be like a few times, before I got convinced I'd never get to leave. I kind of thought there'd be a big ceremony with the bay full of boats and a fireworks show at night."

Aretha giggled. "You sound like you thought getting to leave the island would be as big as becoming the Boss."

"It kind of did seem that way," he answered. "I was so fed up with being stuck here, after a while it was the only goal I had anymore. Then I started feeling like I'd never even get that."

She nodded and looked over at him, her expression neutral as she asked, "And now that you finally get to go, do you have any new goals yet?"

"…to make the famiglia proud and strong."

She giggled again. "Well, that's an inspired answer!"

Nikos smiled sheepishly and shrugged with his other arm. "I just found out, I haven't really figured out the details yet."

When they caught up with Alesandro, who thrust a cone out for each of them, Aretha returned their friend's dazzling smile. "I think you can count on having good help to figure that out," she said to both of them.

"The Boss's life is his Guardians' life!" Alesandro quoted immediately. "We are seven, but we are one, flowing together as all the seas flow together!"

"Sir, do you mind keeping your voice down?" the old lady behind the counter asked, still smiling sweetly. "Everyone is staring at you."

"I'll try, kind lady," Alesandro replied, smiling as always as he slid his money across the counter, but his voice softer. "It's a massive day for the family that protects this island, though."

She shrugged and let out a noncommittal noise none of them could quite categorize. "Today is a special day you say, but I still want to be in business tomorrow."

While they walked away with their frozen treats, a dark shape stepped up to the counter of ice cream stand and watched them go.

"You buying, sir?" the old lady asked.

Slowly the shape turned to look down at her, and just as slowly nodded.

* * *

Walking down the beach, not knowing they were being watched, the three youths stared out over the ocean as they went. Alesandro took a quick but deliberate step away from his friends.

"You going to miss it here, Nick?" he asked conversationally. "Think you'll miss the quiet life after we're real mafiosos?"

"Not on your life," Nikos grumbled. "The whole reason I got sent here was nobody'd ever look for me here."

Aretha looked over at him, her gaze neutral and questioning. "What's so bad about life here?" she asked. "Lots of people live their whole lives here and never complain about not it being exciting."

"I didn't live my life here," Nikos countered a little tersely. "I spent all my time here being trained. Would get to go sometime, but never knew when. I didn't get to consider anything else like the people who live here."

"Hey!" Alesandro exclaimed, turning to face them. "We're celebrating, remember? Nick, why don't you show Aretha what all that training was for!"

Closing his fist, Nikos walked closer to the water. His ring glowed and a knife-like jet of blue Sea Flames flared from the gem. He pointed it out toward the water and concentrated. The water in front of him rippled outward in a straight line. Suddenly a thin blade of silvery Sharp Tide ten feet long whipped out of the ocean, parting the water like the Red Sea with the force of it shooting up.

"Not bad, Nick," Aretha admitted, a hint of a smile creeping back onto her face.

He smiled faintly back at her. "I'm just getting started."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"  
Alesandro grinned as he spoke up. "He has the Sea Flame, Aretha. What do you think water does when it touches his power?"

"I…never thought much about it," she replied.

Not joining in their conversation to keep up his concentration, Nikos made the long construct he'd formed lose its rigidity and drop into the water like a snake. It swung around and around in a circle, throwing up a taller and taller of surge of white foam around itself. It dipped under the surface then suddenly it whipped out again straight up, a spiral of sapphire blue water curled around the strand of Sharp Tide. It stretched five, ten, twelve feet high…

"Hey kid, knock it off! You're scaring all the fish!" an old man barked, shaking his fishing pole at Nikos in annoyance.

Aretha clapped and giggled at the sight. "It really did pay off, huh Nick? Last time you showed me that trick it couldn't go half that high!"

"…it was _at least_ half that high," Nikos mumbled. Aretha nudged his shoulder, but the look on her face was a playful smirk.

"The other mafias better watch out!" she laughed. "The Master of Sharp Tide's here!"

Alesandro joined in her laughter, but Nikos just watched the combination of water and power he'd create shrink back into the sea. The mass of Sharp Tide dissolved while the water calmed down, turning into a cluster of small discs that reflected the dying sunlight as they were carried apart on the ocean's surface.

As they drifted away Nikos turned to look back at the manor where he'd lived his entire life on Pelacidos. He'd always thought it had been built on the tallest spot on the island to able to look down over the whole thing, but Nikos looked just past it to where an even taller hiller stood. There was nothing there, just a lookout point that really did let someone get a view over everything thing on the island.

The Hyperides famiglia had thought about building their base of operations on Pelacidos there. Nikos had always been told the famiglia hadn't built there because the locals loved going up to the hill to appreciate the splendid view, although lately he'd been thinking it was only for reasons of convenience. So nobody complained and maybe, just maybe, got the attention of someone the famiglia didn't want snooping around the island.

Now, all of that thinking seemed awfully cynical.

"Hey, how about a ride up there?" Nikos pointed. "I wonder if we could see to the mainland from that high."

Alesandro chuckled into his fist. Aretha shook her head a little but was chuckling a little herself as she did. "You sound just like a kid, Nick," she muttered.

He smirked a teasing little smirk. "Rather be that than whatever I was before those assassins showed up."

"That's a really weird-sounding milestone for a personal change, Nick," Alesandro teased.

"Have the feeling it's gonna be the first of a lot of those," Nikos replied as he walked off.

* * *

The bicycles they rented for the ride up were old, clattering ones with faded paint and the upholstery on the seats starting to tear, but to Nikos that seemed to make them even better. He pulled ahead of his friends as they rode up the trail. He got to the top first and rode around the round lookout area, fists held high over his head in victory.

Aretha stared at his display, brushing long strands of hair out of her face blown there by the speed of their trek from the village. "I've _never_ seen Nikos be so energetic," she said. "Did he really want to get off the island that bad?"

A little sadly, Alesandro nodded. "But the Hyperides put a lot in training and discipline. That's all he's ever known here."

"He's known _us_ ," Aretha replied.

Nikos jumped off his bicycle "You're missing it!" he called as he waved them over. He stepped to the railing at the edge of the platform and climbed up onto the lower rail, looking almost straight at the sunset.

The other two walked over to where Nikos was leaning over the edge. Below clusters of trees, their leaves seeming to turn orange as the dying daylight spilled over, spread out like an umbrella. There was a small ribbon of open grass before the first row of houses from the village, all the color washed out by the sunset until they looked like an array of maroon jewels, the way they were catching the light with their roofs.

"It's pretty," Nikos breathed.

"And you still want to just leave? Even now?" Aretha asked.

"Aretha, it's pretty, but so's the _world_. I like the view up here, but is that the only one you want to see from now on? Don't you want to see what else is out there, just waiting for you to find it?" Nikos asked.

She looked back at him. "You sound like you think you're just going to be a tourist after you leave."

"Of course I'm not. I'm going to be fighting other mafias with powers of their own. But my life finally has a point." He glanced over his shoulder at them. Alesandro was silent, letting the Boss say his piece like a loyal lieutenant.

Aretha sighed and looked out over the panorama of the trees below, the village beyond, and the ocean and reflecting the burnt orange light like an endless mirror. "Life here has a point, too. Those people we talked to down at the beach, they've lived their whole lives here."

Nikos jumped back down. "Oh?"

"That lady who sold us ice cream? That's my great grand aunt," Aretha replied. "The fisherman's her husband. The man who rented us bikes is my cousin. This island's been our home for generations."

"And I'm not saying they can't enjoy it. But I don't, I want to see the rest of it and I'm not sorry for thinking that," Nikos replied.

She sighed. "I almost wish I didn't."

Suddenly there was a loud sound almost like a gun going off. Aretha screamed and ducked, but Nikos and Alesandro looked around after exchanging a glance and confirming the other hadn't been hit. The sound came again, and then they spotted the towering shape behind them.

It was a pale-skinned man, taller than Nikos or Alesandro by almost two whole feet. His shoulders were wide, his arms thick and powerful-looking. Even wider was his waistline, but instead of looking obese he had a build that hinted at the musculature of a sumo wrestler. He had on a white tanktop underneath dark purple jack, and black pants on top of his matching oversized sneakers. There was a mop of greasy brown hair covering the top of his head, hanging down to fame his heavy jowls. Sticking out of the waist of his pants was a bright green and black bag that looked like the kind potato chips came in.

He clapped his hands and the gun-like sound came again. And as his palms crashed together with that much force, Nikos noticed something.

Around one pudgy finger was a ring with a black metal band just like the ones Nikos and Alesandros had. The only difference was it had a red gem.

Nikos started to walk up to the huge man. Alesandro grabbed him by the wrist suddenly. Instead of trying to stop him, Alesandro said, quietly, "Be careful, Nick."

"You don't have to worry about me," Nikos answered.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be doing my job," Alesandro answered, all of his earlier joking completely gone from his voice.

"Don't talk about it like that," Nikos frowned reproachfully and stepped away. He came up to the silent figure, and asked, "Are you one of the Hyperides Guardians?"

He regarded Nikos like he was regarding an ant, held out a pudgy hand as if for a handshake, his fingers covered in red potato chip dust. "Erm…let me see that ring for a second, would you?" Nikos asked. The response was the silent man turning his hand over and showing the back of his fingers. Engraved under the gemstone was a stalk of coral, its arms reaching out for the edges. Underneath it was a name.

Hyperides.

"What's your name?" Nikos asked, looking up to meet his eyes. The towering man just blinked down at him, but didn't say anything. "In that case, come with us. I bet you already know where to go."

He turned and looked down the hill at the Hyperides mansion, turned back to Nikos and nodded once. Then he turned and stomped up the road through the village.

* * *

The stars were coming out against the banner of night as Estevan Hyperides sat in the lounge, puffing idly on a cigarette as he waited, doing nothing else. Four men in dark suit formed a defensive square around him, hands clutched behind their backs as they waited too.

He stood up as he heard the front doors open as if knew what to expect. His guards seemed to know what to expect as well as they immediately started walking through the room to the front hall. Estevan put out his cigarette and walked with them, where Nikos and his friends had already entered along with a huge man in dark clothes.

"There you are!" Estevan said with a smile. "It looks like you had a productive day. Did anything major happen, Kenta?"

The huge man shook his head in answer.

"Good. Not that I was expecting it, but you've kept a close eye on them. Well done."

"Father," Nikos spoke up, "when did the Reef Guardian get here?"

" _Your_ Reef Guardian flew in with me," Estevan explained. "This was kind of his final test, to make sure he could keep up with you. Kids, meet Kenta Sengoshou. Don't let his size surprise you, he's about your age, just awfully big for it."

Nikos peered at his father. "So you're assembling our Guardians now."

His father laughed. "Yes. Andre's so worried about me. Thinks I can't cope without him around looking over my shoulder every single minute of every single day. I had him head to Japan to check up on the progress of your Tidal Wave Guardian. That's a tough Flame to master, even for the Sea Flames. You think you had it rough? Ask that boy about how many hours he spent training when you meet him."

The conversation paused for a second as Estevan lit up a cigarette. He always said imported cigars made him look pretentious, and stayed away from them. A puff of smoke escaped his lips, and Nikos asked him, "Where's this Tidal Wave Guardian coming from, Father?"

Estevan smirked a little as if expecting the question. "Oh, he's from Japan, like Kenta."

"Japan?" Nikos asked. "Is that why so many of your Guardians are from there? You've got some kind of fetish?"

"This is something you could stand to learn, son. Some of the best fighters in the world come from Japan. If we don't scout them, they'll probably end up working for the yakuza or other local syndicates. What a waste of talent that would be."

"And you didn't tell me they'd be coming?"

"Because you should've been expecting it as part of tradition," Estevan replied, pointing his cigarette at his son. "The Boss has six Guardians who use the other Flames. Always. You're strong, Nikos. That's why I'm trusting you with this job, but you're still a mafia heir. You need protection and Kenta's part of it."

Nikos nodded. "All right." He turned and started to walk out of the room, but Estevan cleared his throat.

"One more thing," he added. "Since you're working for me now, call me 'Boss', not father." Then he smiled. "And make sure your people call you that too."

Alesandro stood straight up. "We will, sir. Won't we, Kenta?" he asked, looking up at the enormous boy. Kenta just nodded.

"Doesn't say much, does he?" Aretha asked.

Estevan shook his head. "He doesn't. We're not really sure if he can't, or if he just rather wouldn't. He's a damn fine fighter, though, and you'll be glad to have him on your side when you're in your first fight. But…"

The Boss stopped talking and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry to ask this, but Aretha," he began "will you still give up your peaceful life on the island to help my son and his allies? It will be dangerous, and it will be a lifelong commitment. You've never thought of yourself as a warrior, and I won't ask you to think of yourself that way now if you've had second thoughts."

"You don't have to," Nikos whispered to her. "Not if you'd rather stay here…"

Her response was to hold up her hand, lighting up the pink gem on the ring she wore there with the power she commanded. "Yes, I do. Pelacidos has been my family's home for generations. But the time's come for my friends to take on their duties. I won't back down from my mine now that it's here. I will be the Eighth Boss's Estuary Guardian, as I promised. And I promise now to serve admirably and bring distinction to my family."

Estevan smiled and laughed, a tired undertone to the sound as if the outcome might've been weighing on his mind until she'd put it at ease with her answer. "Good! Then get ready, Eighth Generation. The mafia world is waiting to see the impact you'll make on it."

* * *

 **There it is, a bit of a lighter chapter after the fighting, and introducing some more of the Hyperides Guardians that Nikos will be needing when he gets into fights with the rest of the mafia world.**

 **Again, art of the rings and a rundown of the Dying Will Flames they use is up on DeviantArt now. Should come up with no problem if you search of "Hyperides Famiglia". Hope it adds a little to the image of them.**


End file.
